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| Staff Writer |
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Coolmore's Triple Crown champion Justify (USA) added another stakes winner to his resume in North America on Saturday, rounding up a busy week in the Southern Hemisphere that included successful sale results in New Zealand and an amazing trial winner in Sydney.
The promising filly Justique of C R K Stable, trained by John Shirreffs, won the US$100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes (7f) at Del Mar by a comfortable two-and-a-quarter lengths.
The winning rider, Victor Espinoza, commented, "I don't try to coax her out from the gate; I just let her do her thing." Justique was purchased for US$725,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is the third winner out of Grazie Mille, a winning half-sister by Bernardini to stakes-winners Venetian Mask and Jaguar Paw.
Both Justify and her father were co-bred by John Gunther. This year, Justify stayed at Ashford Stud in Kentucky, where he sired six stakes winners out of his first crop of 23 winners.
In the past week, the first Australian-bred 2YOs by Justify have made headlines thanks to an impressive trial winner at Warwick Farm on Friday and strong performances at the NZB Ready to Run Sale, where he was the leading sire by average.
A filly sired by Justify and out of Brilliant Bisc fetched US$210,000, while a colt sired by Jaipur Princess fetched US$140,000. Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott unveiled their beautiful filly by Justify out of the multiple Gr.1 winner and multiple Gr.1 stakes winner Global Glamour at the Warwick Farm trials on Friday.
With a final sprint to the finish line, she won her 798-meter heat by a length. He is his dam's second foal, and his half-brother, a brilliant 3YO named Scientist, is the reason Just Glamourous is so handsome. At the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, he fetched US$900,000 from the Coolmore Stud draught and was purchased by his trainers, the Waterhouse/Bott duo, along with Bruce Slade's Kestrel Thoroughbreds. Because of this, she is the third most expensive filly ever sold anywhere in the world and the most costly by her sire in this region.